Printing-plate holder.



No. 778,466. PATENTED DEG. 27, 1904. E. R. STORM PRINTING PLATE HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 31, 1904. I

mznesses UNITED STATES PatentedDecember 27, 1904.

EDVIN R. STORM, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PRINTING-PLATE HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 778,466, dated December 27,1904.

Application filed May 31, 1904.. Serial No. 210,436.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWIN R. STORM, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Printing-Plate Holders, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in holders for printingplates in which plateclamps are used in conjunction with grooved blocks; and the objects of my invention are, first, to provide a plate-clamp of few parts that may be inserted at any point of the groove and be quickly and reliably secured thereto; second, to provide means for accurately moving the clamp and plate any fractional distance to bring the plate to perfect register; third, to provide a plate-clamp that will hold the plates to the grooved block when a sufficient number of the clamps have been inserted in the grooves and have had their holding edges brought to bear on the edges of the plate, and, fourth, to provide a means for removing the plate after printing.

1 attain these objects by means of the devices illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a top view of a portion of a grooved block with a printing-plate thereon and plate-clamps in position in the grooves. Fig. 2 is an end view of the rack which is fitted to the bottom of the grooves. Fig. 3 is a top view of a portion of the rack which is fitted to the grooves. Fig. 4: is a sectional view of the block, showing a groove with the rack in place, a plate-clamp on the block, and the screw which engages with the rack and acts, in conjunction with the member extending in the groove, to hold the plate-clamp to the block. Fig. 5 is an end view of the face-piece, showing the member which extends into the groove. Fig. 6 is a view of the under side of the facepiece, showing the bevel of the holding edge, the member which extends in the groove, and the slots through which is passed the end of the bar used in turning the screw. Fig. 7 is a View of the screw and shows the holes which receive the end of the operating-bar. Fig. 8 is an end view of the screw. Fig. 9 is an isometric projection of a modified form in which the grooved block is adapted to be locked in a printers chase. Fig. 10 is a modified form of the rack in which the width is such as to permit the rack to enter the groove at any point.

Similar numbers of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

The block 1, of any desired size, and preferably of the same construction as is now in common use, consists of a block having grooves 2 of greater width at the lower than at-the upper part and the rack 3, which may be a separate piece secured to the bottom of the groove, or it may be formed integrally with the block, as indicated at a, Fig. 1.

The rack 3 (shown as a separate piece in Fig. 3) is formed to the section indicated in Fig. 2, in which the inclined sides 4. are made to fit against the inclined sides 5 of the groove 2 and the bottom 6 to rest on the bottom of the groove 2. (See Fig. 4.) The teeth on the rack may be of any desired outline, as United States standard, V, square thread,or any other, but should preferably be of an outline which permits the use of a screw having a smooth broad top to its thread, and are formed as a portion of a nut whose internal diameter is considerably larger than the diameter of the screw which works on it, as indicated in Figs. 2, 4t, and 8. The rack 3, fitted to the grooves 2, is prevented from rising, bending, or buckling when in use by the inclined sides of the groove and may be rigidly secured to place by the screw 7 which passes through the countersunk hole 8, in one end of the rack 3 and is fitted to a threaded hole 9, formed in the bottom of the groove 2. (See Fig. 4.) The rack 3 may be of any desired length, from a short section secured to that portion of the groove in which a plate-clamp is to be placed to a rack running the full length of the groove to which it is fitted, and is preferably formed of a separate piece, so it may be taken out and cleaned.

The screw 10 is formed of adiametersmallcr than the top of the groove2 to enable it to be dropped into the groove at any point of the groove. It is provided with a thread that meshes with the teeth on the rack 3 and is preferably formed so the top of the thread forms apart of a cylindrical surface, so it may bear without undue wear against the side 5 of the groove 2 and the cylindrical surface of the member on the face-piece, which extends into the groove. In the end 11 of the screw are formed holes 12 to receive the end of the bar which is used to turn the screw. These holes may lie in one plane or more than one plane, as indicated. (See Fig. 7.) In the end opposite the end 11 is formed the slot13 to facilitate the turning of the screw with a screwdriver when accessible. (See Fig. 9.)

The face-piece 14 is formed with a holding edge 15 and a projecting member 16, adapted to extend into the groove 2. The projecting member 16 is formed with a face 17, adapted to fit against the side 5, a face 18 parallel to the face 17 at a distance from it approximately equal to the width of the top of the groove 2, a cylindrical surface 19 of a diameter approximately equal to the diameter of the.screw 10, and a face 20, adapted to receive the thrust of the end 11 of the screw 10. The face 20 may, if desired, contain the hole 21, and a pin 22 (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 7) may be formed on the end 11 of the screw 10 to fit the hole 21. That part of the projecting member 16 which lies between the face 17 and the cylindrical surface 19 forms a lock which operates in conjunction with the screw 10 to hold the face-piece 14 to the block 1. In the face-piece 1 1 is formed the slot or slots 23, so formed as to enable the end of the operating-bar to be passed through the slot and enter one of the holes 12 in the screw 10 and turn the screw.

The operation of securing a printing-plate upon the block 1 is as follows: The printingplate 24: is placed upon the block in approximate] y the desired position and the face-pieces 1 1 placed around the edges where required, with the projecting members 16 within the grooves 2. The screws 10 are then dropped in the grooves 2, one screw being placed in each groove, holding a face-piece at a point immediately back of the face-piece 14, with the end 11 toward the face-piece. The screw is then rotated within the groove 2 by means of a screw-driver working in the slot 13 until the end 11, passing between the inclined side 5 of the groove 2 and the cylindrical surface 19, bears against the face 20, or in case the slot 13 is inaccessible to a screw-driver each face-piece is held so the face 17 bears against one of theinclined sides 5 of the groove 2 and is moved back over the end 11 of the screw 10 until the end 11 bears against the face 20. In this position the projecting member acts in conjunction with the screw to so fill the groove 2 that it looks the face-piece to the surface of the block 1. By using an appropriate bar whose end is passed through the slots 23 and into the holes 12 the screws 10 may be rotated, and if rotated in one direction they will, because of their meshing with the racks 8, move lengthwise of the grooves,

and if the movement be such as to force the end 11 against the face 20 it will move the face-piece against the printing-plate and if continued will move the printing-plate over any distance required, and if the screw be rotated so as to move the end 11 away from the face 20 the bar having its end in the hole 12 will bear against the side of the slot 23 and pull the face-piece away from the printingplate. In this manner the printing-plate may be moved over any fractional distance to bring it to perfect register and may then by moving the screws so as to bring the holding edges of the face-pieces to bear firmly on the edges of the plate be held securely to such position.

In Fig. 9 is shown a modified form in which the grooved block is made of a convenient size and shape to be locked within a printers chase.

In Fig. 10 is shown a modified form of the rack in which the width is such that the rack may be dropped into the groove at any point, and the rack may then be turned until it rests with its back on the bottom of the groove, in which position it may be secured by a screw to the block 1.

Having described my invention, Iclaim and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In a holder for printing-plates the combination of a grooved block, a face-piece working on the block, a rack within the groove and a screw meshing with the rack and bearing against the face-piece.

2. In a holder for printing-plates the combination of agrooved block, a face-piece workng on the face of the block, a member on the face-piece extending into the groove, a rack in the groove and a screw meshing with the rack and bearing against the said member extending in the groove.

3. In a holder for printing-plates the combination of a grooved block, a rack within each groove, a face piece working on the face of the block, a member on the face-piece extending in the groove, a face on the said member fitted to the side of the groove, a face on the opposite side of the member formed to admit the insertion of the member within the groove, and a screw meshing with the rack and bearing against the said member to control the face-piece.

1. In a holder for printing-plates the com bination of a grooved block, a rack within each groove a face-piece working on the face of the block, a member on the face-piece extending within the groove, a face on the said member fitted to the side of the groove and its opposite side formed to admit the insertion of the member within the groove, a cylindrical surface formed within the said member and a screw meshing with the rack and working between one side of the groove and the cylindrical surface to hold the face-piece to the block and control the face-piece.

5. In a holder for printing-plates the combination of a grooved block, one or more facepieces working on the surface of the grooved block, racks within the grooves, screws working within the grooves formed to mesh with the racks and bear against one side of the groove and members extending within the grooves formed to act in conjunction with the screws to hold the face-pieces to the face of the block.

6. In a holder for printing-plates the combination of a grooved block, one or more facepieces working on the surface of the grooved block, a member on each face-piece extending into the groove and formed to act in conjunction with a screw to hold the face-piece to the face of the block, a screw for each facepiece, holes in the screw adapted to receive the end of an operatingbar, racks in the grooves adapted to mesh with the screws, and slots in the face-pieces through which the end of the said operating-bar may be passed.

7. In a plate-clamp to be used on a grooved block, the combination of a face-piece having a holding edge, a member extending from the face-piece formed with one side conforming to a side of the groove, a portion of its opposite side formed to admit the insertion of the said member at any point of the groove, and the remainder formed with a concave cylindrical surface adapted to partially envelopthe body of a screw.

8. In a plate-clamp to be used on a grooved block, the combination of a face-piece having a holding edge thereon, a member extending from the face-piece formed to admit the in sertion of the said member at any point of the groove, a face on the said member conforming to a side of the groove, a concave cylindrical surface formed to partially envelop the body of a screw and a screw formed to be held and 4 rotated within the cylindrical cavity.

EDWVIN R. STORM,

Witnesses:

E. D. LINDSEY, J. OSCAR BUNCE. 

